Sports: Memo to FIFA - Instant Replay on Goals

There is no perfect system to make calls in sporting events of any type.  Replay can't be done on everything.

In futbol/soccer where goals are so rare, mistakes that could be easily corrected with replay on when to rule a goal is a goal is ridiculous.

FIFA's governing body has its head in the sand by not even considering replay on goal rulings.

This item in SI.com makes the case for replay quite well.  Excerpt:

In a sport where a score of, say, 5-2 is considered an offensive onslaught of massive proportions, a legitimate goal must be counted. If the ball bounces over the line, it's a goal. End of story, no debate, case closed. True, other sports are not perfect when it comes to scoring. A mistaken non-call on goaltending might take away a legitimate field goal in an NBA game, for example, but that's two points out of 200. And replays are now allowed to determine if a shot counts for two points or three. In major league baseball, a sport that takes to change the way a sea lion takes to the Sahara, umpires are now allowed to consult replay cameras to determine whether a home run is fair or foul or whether a ball did in fact go over the barrier into the seats. And it goes without saying that the NFL replay system all but guarantees that a touchdown will be counted as a touchdown.

But even if there were no replay in other sports, disallowing a legit goal in soccer, a sport in which offenses work so hard for even a great opportunity to take a crack at the goal, is indefensible. Even the most tradition-bound purists must agree that a goal should be a goal. So when referee Mauricio Espinosa mistakenly disallowed Frank Lampard's goal on Sunday, a score that would've enabled England to tie Germany 2-2, it was a very big deal. And when FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke all but ruled out the use of video replay that would correct such situations, it exposed a sport crying out not just for visionary leadership but for leadership with some grasp of reality. Not counting a goal for fear of dehumanizing a sport with replay is not in the tradition of anything besides the tradition of ignorance.

The fact that Germany was the superior team and probably would've won the game anyway is irrelevant.

Lampard put it across the goal line.

Give the man a goal!